Hello faithful readers and fellow book lovers!
I wanted to tell everyone about a new publishing company for independent authors. Hollow Hills, LLC. was co-founded by my friend Aurora Styles and myself as a place for authors whose works might be considered too "different" for traditional publishers. We don't believe in formula writing or writing by the numbers. We are looking for stories without all the usual tropes. We want original. We want unique. We want fantasy!
Though we do specialize in fantasy and all it's sub-genres, we will also consider horror, romance, mythology, and erotica. The most important thing to us is the story itself. Are the characters three-dimensional? Does the story reach down inside and pull out all those feels? Do the vivid setting details make you feel like you are really there? Does the story not fit neatly into one genre? Then we are interested!
For those indie authors who prefer self-publishing, we offer services that are vital to creating a sell-able product. As some of you may know, I have been a paid beta reader for a few years now and I am bringing my experience to Hollow Hills.
Aurora instructs Composition 101 and Freelance Writing. She also holds an MFA in Creative Writing. She has experience editing papers and manuscripts full-time. So if you need a beta reader or editor, we've got you covered.
Two other services we offer through our company are the sales of pre-made book covers, and extra promotional services for authors. We have a variety of choices for book covers and we guarantee that any sold will never be sold again. Hollow Hills understands that most authors work other jobs and may not have the time to promote their books. We offer affordable services that include daily posts on social media accounts and posts on blogs.
To start our company off with a bang, we have decided to publish an anthology later this year. This collection of short stories and/or poetry will give new authors a chance to shine. All royalties earned from the sales of the anthology will
go towards a charity. We are still in talks about which charity, but it
will be one that involves the theme of the stories.
This first anthology will be titled "Still Standing" and the stories will involve a protagonist who has undergone some kind of ill treatment from a person in power, whether they were abused, harassed, fired, dismissed, etc. The antagonist can be a boss, co-worker, evil overlord, whatever you would like. The story can be a revenge story, but the main theme is empowerment and the healing process. The victim came through and is standing on their own two (or more) feet. Again, though we specialize in fantasy, we would gladly consider horror or romance submissions.
For more information on the submission guidelines, please visit our blog on our website here: www.hollowhillsbooks.com
Be sure to stop by and see what our company can do for you, independent author!
You know how it is. You tell someone that you're a writer and they give you an amused look. Like it's not a real job. Like it's some side project that you do for kicks. It's cross stitching for dreamers.
I don't know about you guys but writing is hard work. Yes, it is WORK. You spend hours researching, editing, perfecting your craft, pitching ideas to friends, editing some more, throwing out entire chapters, rewriting, agonizing over dialogue, some more research, on and on putting your sweat and blood and endless hours into your work.
At least, that's what you're supposed to do.
A problem I'm constantly seeing these days with everything being online is that when it comes to indie writers, some are just straight up lazy. Yeah, I said it. Self publishing has made us into lazy writers. Without the threat of an editor and publishing house looming over our shoulders, we think we can just throw any old thing out there and with enough promotion on our part, it'll become an instant gem.
The problem is, it's working.
I've read a lot more indie books in the last year than ever before and I have to say, only about 40% of them were well written. The others had problems that a little more time and effort could have easily fixed: too short, too long, too descriptive, not descriptive enough, too many grammatical errors, formatting problems, etc. Things that an editor would have caught but since a publishing house was totally bypassed, no one did. And getting your neighbor who reads a book a year to look over it for you, does not count as getting a beta reader.
The saddest thing is that those 60% that ranged from "needs some work" to "burn this bitch and start from scratch", were the ones that had over ten reviews each and were spammed all over the net. They were getting more attention than the authors who'd really put the time in. What is this nonsense? You're telling me that you have the time and money to market your book that well, that often but you can't get a serious beta reader or hire an editor to proofread it for you?
This is why, sad to say, that when I start reading a book and realize that it's self published, I can't help but cringe a little. Because these days, I honestly don't know what I'm getting. And that just isn't fair to those indie authors who do all the research and spend all the time and have the aching necks and wrists from hours spent over the damn computer screen.
The publishing world kinda sucks these days. It's uneven and unfair. If you have the cash to spend, you can get your work published, even if it's crap. The rest of us have to work our asses off and can't get half the reviews.
So, what I'm saying is, indie authors, put in the time. Don't be lazy. I still believe that anyone can write a book. Anyone. But no one can write a book in a week and think it's ready for publishing.
And if you do write a book in a week and get it published, I wouldn't suggest asking me to read and review it for you. You should have asked me to beta read for you first because notes I give you beforehand are for your personal use to help you out. A crappy review is there on the net for the entire world to see.
